Home hero Jannik Sinner won’t be playing in front of home fans in Rome.
Australian Open champion Sinner officially withdrew from Rome due to the hip injury that caused him to concede a walkover to Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Madrid quarterfinals.
“It is not easy to write this message but after speaking again with the doctors and specialists about my hip problems I have to announce that unfortunately I will not be able to play in Rome,” Sinner posted on social media. “Obviously I’m very sad that I didn’t recover, it being one of my favorite tournaments ever. I couldn’t wait to come back and play at home in front of the Italian crowd.”
Sinner is hoping he will recover to play Roland Garros, which starts on May 26th.
World No. 2 Sinner joins third-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who is battling a lingering right forearm injury, in pulling out of the Rome Masters 1000 event.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and king of clay Rafael Nadal are main champion attractions for the Eternal City.
Last fall, Sinner demolished Aussie Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-0 sealing Italy’s first Davis Cup championship in 47 years with a 2-0 triumph over Australia in the Davis Cup final in Malaga, Spain.
Sinner drew massive crowd support playing before Italian fans at the ATP Finals in Turin last November.
